Stench
by Ichobana Rose
Summary: They were too busy fighting goblins on their way to the castle to notice it. They were too busy having a party to notice it. But boy, when her stepmother came in to do laundry, was it noticed!


Yay I finally got a story up! Woot well this is my first Labyrinth story, so I hope I got the characters right...constructive criticism is always good! Enjoy

**Stench**

They didn't notice because they were too busy fighting goblins to get to the castle.

They didn't notice because they were having a fun party.

But of course, when Irene came in to take Sarah's dirty laundry Saturday afternoon, she noticed.

"What is that smell!?" she shrieked.

Sarah, who was very tired from the night before and had slept in very late, finally awoke.

"What?" she asked groggily from the bed.

"You let the dog sleep in here while we were gone, didn't you! Now everything in here smells absolutely disgusting! Young lady, you are doing your own laundry today!" Irene swept out of the room, holding her nose.

Then Sarah smelled it. There was only one thing that could smell like this, though admittedly, the wet dog did smell pretty badly. Somehow, something of Sarah's had gotten into the Bog of Eternal Stench. This was bad. Her shoes were the worst of all, she figured because of the rocks Ludo had summoned from the bottom of the Bog. They would have to be thrown out. Also, there was a green spot on her jeans that she figured must have come from the bridge falling in, splashing water up to where she had hung on the branch for those agonizing seconds.

The shoes were in the trash, and the jeans in the wash (hey, they were Sarah's favorite pair, she had to try, right?) and Sarah, dressed, went down to grab something to eat.

"Sarah!" Irene again, "I told you to wash the stinking clothing, not wear it!"

Sarah was confused a bit at first, but then caught a whiff of something. _Oh no!_ She thought, dashing back upstairs into the bathroom.

She pulled up her pants leg. There it was. A small, green splatter on her leg. _Must've soaked through,_ she thought bitterly.

"Well," Sarah said to herself, "I can't stink forever!"

For the record though, she scrubbed with a soap that had a strong scent.

"You know," a voice behind her drawled, "The dwarf wasn't lying when he said that the stench would never wash off."

Sarah whirled, "You!" she cried.

Jareth smirked. "Me," he said.

"What are you doing here?! I already solved your labyrinth, why can't you just leave Toby and I alone!"

"Oh, it's not the baby I'm after," Jareth said, "This time my prey is much…prettier."

Sarah didn't like the way he had said prey, and she was very glad she had pulled her pants _up_ to check instead of _down_.

"Who's your…prey?" Sarah asked, trying not to act nervous. Inside, she was shaking.

Jareth took a step closer, still smirking, "You know very well who she is."

Sarah took a step backwards, and ran into the wall. Jareth was between her and the door. She began inching her hand towards the toilet plunger.

Suddenly, Jareth swept forward, and grabbed both of her arms, pinning her against the wall.

"Now, don't you want me to help?" he asked. His face was two inches from hers.

"Let go of me, or I'll scream!" Sarah said tersely.

"Such a pity," Jareth said again. He had not stopped smirking the entire time he had been in her bathroom. "But tell me Sarah, once I've disappeared, who would believe you that I had been here?"

Sarah was silent. She let her eyes fall to the necklace Jareth wore. The large crescent still shone, although it was in shadow.

"I make my offer to you again, Sarah," Jareth spoke again, "Fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. Not to mention remove the smell form your beautiful skin."

"Sorry, no," Sarah replied, "Didn't I make my answer to you clear last time?"

"Yes, but last time you didn't have the threat of being friendless and loveless for the rest of your life for your stench."

Sarah groaned. He had a point.

She had opened her mouth to reply when suddenly, he kissed her. It was soft at first, but soon grew in passion. His arms loosened their grip on hers, but instead of shoving him away and hitting him with the plunger, Sarah only threw her arms around him and drew him closer.

However, their happiness was not to last, as there soon came a pounding on the door.

"Sarah!" her father called, "Sarah, you've been in there a long time! Are you alright?"

"Yes!" she called back. Jareth winced, because her mouth was still close to his ear. "I'll be out in a minute, Dad!"

However, Jareth had other plans.

"Will you be returning with me then?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. Neither of them had moved.

Sarah thought of her life right now, of how old she was (fifteen!) and what she wanted to accomplish. She also thought of her experience in the labyrinth. She saw now that a lot of what Jareth had done had indeed been to her benefit there, twisted though it was.

When she opened her mouth to reply, Jareth kissed her again. Sarah giggled but broke it off short.

"Why don't you come back in a few years and ask me again?" she said, smiling.

If Sarah hadn't known Jareth better, she would've thought his smirk had slipped. But he drew himself and replied.

"Very well," he said, and kissed her once more. Then he was gone.

Sarah was back in her room five minutes later when she caught a whiff of something.

"Jareth!" she yelled, "You didn't take the stench away!"

She heard laughing from her desk, and sat in front of the mirror. Instead of her face, she saw Jareth's.

"No I didn't forget," Jareth said, "Why else do you think I invited you to the labyrinth again? I have no sense of smell, it was burned out by dipping people into the Bog of Eternal Stench so many times."

Sarah growled and stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed.

Okay, she would admit she loved him, but he was still annoying.


End file.
